LifeOnKey Empowers Israeli Olympic Athletes With PHRs

What many may not realize during the Olympic Games, is that the Israeli Olympic Team athletes will all have instant access to their medical and training information.

LifeOnKey, together with The Wingate Institute, Israel’s National Centre for Physical Education and Sport, and Israel’s Meir Medical Center, the medical center and caregiver for Israel’s Olympic Team, has enabled Israeli’s Olympic athletes to have on-demand access to their medical information.

“This innovative and collaborative project began three years ago to computerize the medical records of the Israeli Olympic team for Beijing 2008, making them the first and only team in the world to have their medical information available 24/7 in a virtual file, called a personal health record (PHR),” said Donna Halperin, president LifeOnKey.

Each file contains an athlete’s personal medical data (medications, medical history, lab results, X rays etc.) collected from different medical institutions (hospitals, HMO’s, family physicians, specialists, etc.) as well as athletic achievements, training schedules, dietary calendar, nutrition requirements, etc.

All athletes have instant, online access to their medical file and can upload their own data from external medical tools, such as blood pressure and pulse monitors. Additionally, the medical file can be read in different languages, and can be downloaded to PDA’s, memory sticks and USB bracelets, so the athletes can have their medical information with them at all times.

“If an athlete is injured during the Olympic games, all of the medical history will be readily available for the local physicians to provide the best possible treatment,” said Halperin.

The risk of injury follows professional athletes during their whole career, and it has been proven that, in reality — injuries return. During injury, every decision the physician makes has direct impact on the athlete’s career, so it becomes extremely important to have all the medical history available to the physician, enabling to make the correct decision.

Beyond the Bejing Olympics, the athletes will be able to continually manage their health and medical information, and keep track of their diet, training progress and achievements.